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Global stocks mostly rise, shrugging off US tariff threats
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Solar becomes Europe's main energy source in June: consultants
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Last-gasp Xhemaili fires Swiss into Euro 2025 quarters
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NBA champion Thunder agree contract extension with Jalen Williams
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Gaza civil defence says Israeli strike kills children at clinic
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Swiatek surprised by surge to Wimbledon final
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Lyles back, ready to 'run fast', as Tebogo lurks
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Anisimova proves doubters wrong with run to Wimbledon final
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Spurs set to sign £60m Gibbs-White - reports
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Booker agrees to record $145 mn extension with Suns: reports
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Sabalenka criticises Anisimova behaviour after shock Wimbledon exit
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Russia and US hold 'frank' talks on Ukraine war
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Swiatek swats Bencic aside to reach Wimbledon final against Anisimova
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Root's 99 not out keeps India at bay in third Test
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Delta offers upbeat outlook on travel demand, lifting shares
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Sara Netanyahu: the ever-present wife of Israel's prime minister
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Italy can hurt rampant Spain, says coach Soncin
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Djokovic faces Sinner in Wimbledon blockbuster as Alcaraz meets Fritz
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Rebooted and 'vulnerable': Superman is back on screens
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Sri Lanka steamroll Bangladesh to win first T20
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Swiatek routs Bencic to reach first Wimbledon final
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Anisimova shocks Sabalenka to reach Wimbledon final, Swiatek in action
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Europe court says S.African Semenya's gender eligibility trial wasn't fair
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Ten rescued after deadly Huthi ship sinking off Yemen
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Scrutiny over Texas flood response mounts as death toll hits 120
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Rami Al Ali becomes first Syrian in Paris fashion programme
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London stocks hit record high on tariff optimism
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Ireland's Healy pulls off solo win at Tour de France
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French appeals court clears two over first lady gender rumours
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French appeals court court clears two over first lady gender rumours
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Barry Callebaut cuts outlook as chocolate sales volumes melt away
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The $10 mn bag: Original Birkin smashes records at Paris auction
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Anisimova stuns Sabalenka to reach Wimbledon final
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Root leads England revival after Reddy's double strike for India
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Snap, crackle and pay: Ferrero to buy WK Kellogg for $3.1 bn
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Shein faces 150-mn-euro fine in France
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Rubio says Asia might get 'better' tariffs than others
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India wicketkeeper Pant leaves field injured in third Test
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Russia says holds 'frank exchange' with US on Ukraine war
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Tendulkar says 'life has come full circle' with Lord's portrait
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Wall Street stocks stall, London hits record high
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Duplantis unfazed by late world champs in Tokyo
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Europe court says S.African athlete's gender eligibility trial wasn't fair
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Dzeko, 39, returns to Serie A with Fiorentina
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Scrutiny over Texas flood response mounts as death toll tops 120
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Iran threats in UK 'significantly increased': Intel watchdog
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Volkswagen halts electric minivan exports to the United States
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EU chief von der Leyen comfortably survives confidence vote
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India's Reddy strikes twice to rock England
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EU opens new probe into TikTok data transfer to China

Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
A US scientist who won the 2024 Nobel physics prize for his pioneering work on artificial intelligence said Tuesday he found recent advances in the technology "very unnerving" and warned of possible catastrophe if it isn't kept in check.
John Hopfield, a professor emeritus at Princeton, joined co-winner Geoffrey Hinton in calling for a deeper understanding of the inner workings of deep-learning systems to prevent them from spiraling out of control.
Addressing a gathering at the New Jersey university via video link from Britain, the 91-year-old said that over the course of his life he had watched the rise of two powerful but potentially hazardous technologies -- biological engineering and nuclear physics.
"One is is accustomed to having technologies which are not singularly only good or only bad, but have capabilities in both directions," he said.
"And as a physicist, I'm very unnerved by something which has no control, something which I don't understand well enough so that I can understand what are the limits which one could drive that technology."
"That's the question AI is pushing," he continued, adding that despite modern AI systems appearing to be "absolute marvels," there is a lack of understanding about how they function, which he described as "very, very unnerving."
"That's why I myself, and I think Geoffrey Hinton also, would strongly advocate understanding as an essential need of the field, which is going to develop some abilities that beyond the abilities you can imagine at present."
Hopfield was honored for devising the "Hopfield network" — a theoretical model demonstrating how an artificial neural network can mimic the way biological brains store and retrieve memories.
His model was improved upon by British-Canadian Hinton, often dubbed the "Godfather of AI," whose "Boltzmann machine" introduced the element of randomness, paving the way for modern AI applications such as image generators.
With the meteoric rise of AI capabilities -- and the fierce race it has sparked among companies -- the technology has faced criticism for evolving faster than scientists can fully comprehend.
"You don't know that the collective properties you began with are actually the collective properties with all the interactions present, and you don't therefore know whether some spontaneous but unwanted thing is lying hidden in the works," stressed Hopefield.
He evoked the example of "ice-nine" -- a fictional, artificially engineered crystal in Kurt Vonnegut's 1963 novel "Cat's Cradle" developed to help soldiers deal with muddy conditions but which inadvertently freezes the world's oceans solid, causing the downfall of civilization.
"I'm worried about anything that says... 'I'm faster than you are, I'm bigger than you are...can you peacefully inhabit with me?' I don't know, I worry."
Y.Kobayashi--AMWN